NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Amplitude Tables?
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2006 Jun 26, 17:04 -0500
If you have managed to learn to practice Cel Nav from a book - any book
- then you have my admiration, Courtney. I tried that approach with
quite a few books but made little headway until I bit the bullet and
enrolled in a formal course that came in planned doses.
Each module needed to be understood to appreciate the next. There were
homework exercises to consolidate steps (building blocks of knowledge)
introduced through lecture material. Those who struggled tended to be
those who neglected their homework (if your course doesn't include this
then invent your own - or find another course).
I think the people who are interested in these Nav Lists come in two
main categories. There are those with a background in mathematics /
astronomy / physics, (history) etc; to whom cel nav wonderfully
combines their interests in a less than normally dry manner. Then there
are those who are hoping to learn more about the subject (eg; me). The
problem is that the voices mostly heard are those of the former, who
since they are ever so slightly bored with the basics tend to rabbit on
about wonderfully arcane and obscure topics (and that does not
necessarily refer to the Equation of Time). Nothing wrong with this, of
course.
The only point I am making is that as a learning method it must be such
a confusion of mostly irrelevant (to a novice) and contradictory
material, and that it can't replace (while it can certainly augment)
study leading to understanding of the basics.
The 'confusion' and the 'contradictory' go together. Often there is a
broad principle involved that is contradicted in (often) a minor way,
(often) because of irregularities in the real world compared to the
perfect imaginary world of straight lines and perfect spheres.
The main thing is the broad principle, which tends to be a useful tool,
albeit an imperfect tool when applied to the imperfect world.
And now I must away, I can hear George calling from the other list.
Coming, George ..
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2006 Jun 26, 17:04 -0500
If you have managed to learn to practice Cel Nav from a book - any book
- then you have my admiration, Courtney. I tried that approach with
quite a few books but made little headway until I bit the bullet and
enrolled in a formal course that came in planned doses.
Each module needed to be understood to appreciate the next. There were
homework exercises to consolidate steps (building blocks of knowledge)
introduced through lecture material. Those who struggled tended to be
those who neglected their homework (if your course doesn't include this
then invent your own - or find another course).
I think the people who are interested in these Nav Lists come in two
main categories. There are those with a background in mathematics /
astronomy / physics, (history) etc; to whom cel nav wonderfully
combines their interests in a less than normally dry manner. Then there
are those who are hoping to learn more about the subject (eg; me). The
problem is that the voices mostly heard are those of the former, who
since they are ever so slightly bored with the basics tend to rabbit on
about wonderfully arcane and obscure topics (and that does not
necessarily refer to the Equation of Time). Nothing wrong with this, of
course.
The only point I am making is that as a learning method it must be such
a confusion of mostly irrelevant (to a novice) and contradictory
material, and that it can't replace (while it can certainly augment)
study leading to understanding of the basics.
The 'confusion' and the 'contradictory' go together. Often there is a
broad principle involved that is contradicted in (often) a minor way,
(often) because of irregularities in the real world compared to the
perfect imaginary world of straight lines and perfect spheres.
The main thing is the broad principle, which tends to be a useful tool,
albeit an imperfect tool when applied to the imperfect world.
And now I must away, I can hear George calling from the other list.
Coming, George ..
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com
To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
